The future could be solar, or at least President Biden's administration is planning for it to be. The Energy Department laid out its ambitious plans to increase the use of solar power to the point it produces almost half of the nation's electricity by 2050.
For the plan to come to fruition, the country would need to double the amount of solar energy installed every year for the next four years, then double it again by 2030, The New York Times reported.
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President Biden's efforts to expand the use of solar energy are part of his plan to fight climate change. This huge spike in the use of solar power would also be historic, being that last year it contributed to only 4% of the country's electricity.
The increase in solar energy would be in line with what most climate scientists are saying is needed to ward off the worst effects of global warming, a report from the Energy Department said.
The change would also require a vast transformation to technology, the energy industry, and how people live. Because solar panel prices have dropped over the past decade, the Energy Department said they could produce 40% of the country's electricity by 2035 and 45% by 2050.
This would be enough energy to power all American homes, though, in total, it would cost trillions of dollars in investments by homeowners, businesses, and the government.
Moving to solar energy would also mean a complete redesign of the electric grid, moving on from coal, natural gas, and nuclear power.
This is not the only electric change that Biden has been working to create. Last month at a White House event with three of the nation's largest automakers, he said he wanted half of all new cars sold by 2030 to be electric.
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Currently, 20% of the country's electricity comes from renewable energy, with natural gas and coal accounting for 60%.
Biden's administration officials say that most of his plans are on a fast-tracked timetable.
"That kind of quick acceleration of deployment is only going to happen through smart policy decisions," Abigail Ross Hopper, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said, the Times reported.
"That's the part where having a goal is important, but having clear steps on how to get there is the issue."
